There are nearly 8,000 ultra rich individuals (those with over US$30 million in net assets) living in China, but where do they all live?

There are nearly 8,000 ultra rich (those with over US$30 million in net assets) living in China, according to research from data provider WealthInsight, but where can they be found?

Unsurprisingly, Beijing and Shanghai are the top two cities with 1,318 and 1,028 multi-millionaires respectively, according to UK-based WealthInsight. 

Hangzhou has the third highest number of Chinese ultra rich (563) followed by Shenzhen (377), Guangzhou (311), Nanjing (192) and then Tianjin (155).
 
Over the four-year review period, the number of multi-millionaires in China increased by 41 per cent from 5,590 individuals in 2007 to 7,905 in 2011. Chongqing was the top performing city with multi-millionaire numbers rising by 78 per cent in the city from 54 individuals in 2007 to 96 in 2011.
 
According to WealthInsight analyst Christopher Rocks: “Chongqing multi-millionaire numbers were boosted by strong growth in the local manufacturing, real estate and transportation sectors.”

Chengdu was the second best performing city, with multi-millionaire volume growth of 61 per cent.  The period in question relates to 2007–2011 and the “forecast period” relates to the years 2011–2016.

Changing Chinese fortunes

The news follows a survey released this week by Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management and Capgemini Financial Services, which showed that that population of Chinese high net worth individuals (those with over US$1 million in net assets) has risen 17.2 per cent since 2009. However growth slowed last year, down to 5.2 per cent from 9.7 per cent the previous year. 

High net worth wealth growth has also been tailing off. Between 2009 and 2010 Chinese HNW wealth grew 13.2 per cent, compared to 1.8 per cent last year. 

This is largely down to last year's stock market and real estate losses, as many Chinese HNW individuals are heavily invested in their own businesses, property and stocks and bonds. Last year the MSCI Equity Index for China fell 20.3 per cent, compared to 2.3 per cent growth between 2009 and 2010. Chinese house prices meanwhile, slumped 3.2 per cent last year.

Despite last year's slowing, and an expected further fall this year, the report forecast an uptick in 2013 for China's high net worth. While GDP growth is predicted to fall to 8.2 per cent this year from 9.2 per cent last year, 2013 should see it rise to 8.5 per cent, said RBC/Capgemini analysts.